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Kenya

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Background: Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over a constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement, which defeated the government's draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. UN-sponsored talks in late February produced a powersharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister. Kenya in August 2010 adopted a new constitution that eliminates the role of prime minister after the next presidential election.Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and TanzaniaArea land: 569,140 sq kmArea water: 11,227 sq kmCoastline: 536 kmCountry name conventional long form: Republic of KenyaCountry name conventional short form: KenyaCountry name former: British East AfricaPopulation: 41,070,934Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.2% (male 8,730,845/female 8,603,270); 15-64 years: 55.1% (male 11,373,997/female 11,260,402); 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 497,389/female 605,031) (2011 est.);Population growth rate: 2.462% (2011 est.)Birth rate: 33.54 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)Death rate: 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female; total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2011 est.);Infant mortality rate: total: 52.29 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 55.03 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 49.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.);Life expectancy at birth: total population: 59.48 years; male: 58.91 years; female: 60.07 years (2011 est.);Total fertility rate: 4.19 children born/woman (2011 est.);HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 6.3% (2009 est.);HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.5 million (2009 est.);HIV/AIDS - deaths: 80,000 (2009 est.);Nationality: noun: Kenyan(s); adjective: Kenyan;Ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%;Religions: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2%;

note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely

Kenya's penal system is under fire after a surprise visit to a prison by a delegation of distinguished jurists found conditions every bit as squalid as human-rights activists and former inmates alleged.

Perhaps predictably, a proliferation of private police forces has led to lynchings. After vigilantes hired by a businessman to protect a housing project caught two alleged burglars and tied them to a tree, a mob gathered and stoned the suspects to death.